Comparison of two laparoscopic suture patterns for repair of experimentally ruptured urinary bladders in normal neonatal calves.

OBJECTIVE

To compare 2 laparoscopic suture patterns for repair of experimentally ruptured urinary bladders in normal neonatal calves.

STUDY DESIGN

Experimental surgical study.

ANIMALS

Thirty male Holstein calves.

METHODS

A bladder defect was created in 24 anesthetized calves (day 0). They were randomly divided into 4 groups (n=6/group). In groups 1 and 3, the defect was closed laparoscopically using a one layer full thickness simple continuous (FTSC) suture pattern (pattern A). In groups 2 and 4, the defect was closed laparoscopically in 2 layers using a FTSC suture pattern followed by Lembert continuous suture pattern (pattern B). Groups 1 and 2 calves were euthanatized at the end of the surgery and groups 3 and 4 at day 10. Six healthy calves were also euthanatized and used as a control group. The bladders were harvested and tested for bursting strength (BS). The surgical time (ST) data from the two groups for each pattern were pooled. A Student t-test was used to compare ST data. For the BS data, a 2-factor ANOVA test with post-hoc Student t-test was used to determine if treatment, time, or treatment-time interaction was significant. A Dunnett's test was used to compare BS of the 4 treatment groups to the control group. P<.05 was considered significant.

RESULTS

Mean ST was significantly shorter for pattern A than for pattern B. In all treatment groups, the mean bladder BS (MBBS) was significantly lower than the MBBS for the control group. The MBBS was significantly lower for group 1 than for group 2. There was no significant difference in the MBBS between groups 3 and 4.

CONCLUSION

In this study, a 1-layer laparoscopic closure technique had advantages compared with 2-layer laparoscopic closure technique. Further work is required before a 1-layer laparoscopic closure technique can be recommended clinically.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE

One-layer bladder closure is fast and safe in clinically normal calves and permits additional research to evaluate its safety in foals and clinical ruptures.